EDITORIAL

The first issue of Forest Energy Forum (known as FEF here in
our Wood Energy Group) has now been distributed to over 2 000
subscribers worldwide and we have even had to make a reprint of
another 500 copies! I wish to express my sincere thanks to our
numerous colleagues who have sent their congratulations for the
initiative and for their encouragement to continue.

In addition to the normal distribution, we are currently
making arrangements for our own Forest Energy home page (within
FAOs Web site: http://www.fao.org), from where, in the near
future, you will also be able to access all issues of FEF and
where you will be able to read about other issues and papers on
wood energy  sorry, forest energy ....

Many important subjects are covered in this issue, among
which: the Unified Wood Energy Terminology, Definitions and
Conversion Factors (UWET), the World Forestry Congress held in
Turkey in October 1997, the Kyoto Protocol and the Clean
Development Mechanism and the Forum on "Forests and
Energy" which took place in Germany in January 1998. [For
more information on all these subjects, please see Special
Features.]

Last year ended (and the biennium, since our budget covers a
two-year period) with many wood energy activities successfully
completed. The regional studies for the collection of statistical
data on wood fuel consumption (under our initiative Wood Energy
Today for Tomorrow [WETT]) in Europe and the OECD countries and
in Asia have been completed and the results are being distributed
[see under Publications for more information]. We have also been
able to compile data for Africa and Latin America, in order to
prepare our Wood Energy Information System, thanks to the
generous and valuable contribution of Prof. Luiz Horta Nogueira,
who has taken a sabbatical from his university to work with us
within the framework of FAOs Academic Programme, and who
has written about his experience [see under Points of View].

Thanks to the meticulous organization of my friend and
colleague Torsten Frisk (who is the Senior Forestry Officer in
our FAO Regional Office in Santiago, Chile), met the National
Coordinators of the Latin America Technical Cooperative Network
on Dendroenergy (LAND) in Havana, Cuba, from 3 to 6 November
1997. Together with the participants from the Grupo
Latinoamericano de Energización Rural Sostenible (GLAERS), we
discussed the multidisciplinary aspects of the utilization of
biomass for the combined production of fuel and food. [For more
information, please see Mr Frisks contribution under Events
of Interest.]

We have also been involved in the preparation of a paper for
the World Energy Council (WEC), which will be a contribution to
the Study on Energy in Developing Countries to be presented at
the 1998 WEC Congress to be held in Houston, United States, from
13 to 17 September 1998. The paper provides a general description
of wood energy systems with the aim of explaining the dynamics,
the mechanisms and the actors involved within these systems and
their interrelations within the forest and energy sectors. I hope
it describes the importance of wood fuels to the forestry and
energy sector and will give a greater visibility to wood energy
issues in this important event. This paper will be printed by the
Wood Energy Group in due course and will be available to those
interested. [For more information on WEC, please see under Events
of Interest.]

Finally, I am extremely happy with the level and type of
contribution received from readers so far; however, I hope that
for the next issues even more colleagues involved in forest
energy will express their views, opinions and experiences (in
English, French or Spanish) through FEF. We have created a
special section, Points of View, which I hope you will feel free
to use as a sounding board for any ideas, opinions or criticisms
you may have. I look forward to hearing from you.

Miguel A. Trossero

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